This invention relates in general to the manufacture of vehicle wheel rims, and in particular to an improved basket assembly for transferring vehicle wheel rims between a series of metal forming operations during manufacture of the wheel rims.
The manufacture of a vehicle wheel rim typically includes the steps of: (a) providing a flat sheet of suitable material, such as aluminum or steel; (b) forming the flat sheet into a cylindrical hoop; (c) flaring the lateral edges of the hoop radially outwardly to produce a rim preform having flanges suitable for positioning on a metal forming machine; and (d) subjecting the rim preform to a series of metal forming operations on the metal forming machine to produce a wheel rim having a predetermined shape.
The metal forming operations are performed at a series of metal forming stations on the metal forming machine. The metal forming machine includes an apparatus for transferring the wheel rims from one metal forming station to the next during the metal forming operations. One type of transfer apparatus includes a transfer beam mounted on a swing arm assembly for rapid movement back and forth in an arc. A plurality of basket assemblies are mounted on top of the transfer beam. The wheel rims are placed into the basket assemblies and transferred from one metal forming station to the next by the movement of the transfer beam. At each metal forming station, the wheel rim is lifted by a mandrel from the basket assembly into engagement with a metal forming tool, and then formed between the tool and the mandrel.
The basket assemblies of the transfer apparatus are usually padded or cushioned to "gently" cradle the wheel rims in the basket assemblies to prevent damage to the wheel rims and to positively hold the wheel rims in the basket assemblies as the wheel rims are moved between the metal forming stations. Typically, the basket assemblies are provided with "fixed" pads which are secured to the basket assemblies by the use of bolts or other removable fasteners. Unfortunately, the use of the fixed pads has several drawbacks. Wheel rims are manufactured in a variety of diameters and widths. Whenever a different sized wheel rim is subjected to the metal forming operations, the fixed pads within the basket assemblies must be changed to different sized pads to accommodate the different size of the wheel rim. Changing the fixed pads is time consuming, resulting in down time on the manufacturing line. Also, it is rather expensive to inventory all the different sized pads needed for the different sized wheel rims. In addition, the fixed pads are not totally effective in holding the wheel rims within the basket assemblies, so that the rapid movement of the transfer beam sometimes causes the wheel rims to fall out of the basket assemblies, resulting in more down time. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved basket assembly for transferring vehicle wheel rims between a series of metal forming operations during manufacture of the wheel rims, which is simple and economical.